Trigger warning for this chapter: Attempted sexual assault.

EDIT: I was informed Akabayashi doesn't carry a crane around with himself but a cane. Who knows, maybe he is an aspiring birdlover, but for now I changed my silly mistake. Thanks at pichu10176 for pointing it out!

He realized he was being followed when Izaya was only a few streets away from his home.

The men that so stubbornly stayed on his heels must have been on to him since the warehouse. He had no other explanation; besides, putting coherent thoughts together turned out to become more and more difficult for him.

The heart inside of his chest was thudding excitedly, because of his body's reactions, and because of fear. He felt for the knife seated in the inside pocket of his hoodie. It wouldn't do much for him if the men choose to attack him all at once. Usually, Izaya was able to take on any opponent, thanks to his quick reactions and overall swiftness. But right now he felt weirdly dizzy, his brain slow on the uptake as if he was packed in absorbent cotton.

He bruised his shoulder when he lost the balance at the next corner, leaning against the cold brick wall and tried to steady his breathing.

It's not that far anymore, he thought to himself. He could make it home unharmed, but he had to move for that – now!

With a huff, Izaya pushed his trembling frame off the wall, and continued his way back home on shaky legs.

Behind him, the men followed silently, like predators tracking their dying prey.

oOoOo

Not far from the scene, only a few streets away, a man lifted his head, sniffing the air expectantly. Shizuo frowned when he picked up a familiar scent, but it was mingled with something else. Something untypical.

He had his back turned to Tom, who was talking to a client in his enduringly unharried voice. The interaction between the two men had a strange subtle undertone. While Tom was speaking with no haste, the man in front of him was shaking and kept begging for more time. Shizuo had learned to listen away whenever Tom settled a transaction. It was better for the health of the people around him. For his own he didn't have to worry, it had been years since one of his fits had managed to break a bone in his body. Shizuo was a fully grown Alpha now. He was strong, healthy and had an exhaustless source of anger inside of him. It was strange how contradicting Tom's and his characters were. But opposites attract, or balance each other out… Something like that.

The familiar smell distracted him enough to miss the exasperated sigh coming from his employer.

Shizuo started to walk forward.

"I'm leaving," he simply announced, both hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks.

Tom gave him a worn out look, the same look a parent had when their child was about to ruin that expensive vase of their neighbors. He bit back the comment on his lips, and instead turned to face his shaken customer.

"Ignore that," he said to the trembling man in front of him. "Sometimes, he does that. I just have to leave him be then. He doesn't really listen to me when this happens, but he's a good fella besides his inability of focusing on the current situation. He's like a dog who just saw a bike ride past and feels the unbearable urge to chase after it, so he can sink his teeth into its wheels. Oh well, at least it never gets boring with him. Now, where were we…"

Shizuo was already out of reach to hear Tom's little speech. Instead, he followed the stench that filled his nose and attracted all of his focus and attention.

"How come you never listen to me when I tell you to stay out of this city, Izaya?" he mumbled, voice steady despite the barely suppressed anger swinging in it. He kept muttering under his breath as he searched for the source of the odd smell.

oOoOo

He wouldn't make it. The realization quickly dripped into his conscious mind as Izaya stood, both hands on his knees and breathing against the rising nausea.

"What's happening to me?" he whispered, groaning when another hot wave lashed his nerves.

This wasn't the typical heat he endured since many years now. This was something new, and Izaya had no clue of how to handle it. The thought instilled a dull terror in him.

Maybe he was getting sick? Maybe the mating had an atypical reaction on him? Maybe his body had been so used to having its urges ignored, that now, when it had finally been acknowledged, it propelled into some kind of overdrive? He remembered the searching looks Shiki had given him this morning, the man's voice reverberating inside of his head, asking if he knew how to handle himself.

Izaya groaned. Obviously, he didn't know.

But the memory sparked an idea in his head. With trembling hands, he pulled out his mobile phone, quickly sliding through his contacts. When he found the desired name, he started typing a text message. At this point, Izaya didn't trust himself enough to form any coherent sentences anymore, and so he prayed that the man would see his text soon enough.

[Something's happening to me. I'm being followed. Come quickly. I'm at-]

He stilled when he felt a new presence behind himself. The alley, where he was leaning against a rough stone wall, was dark except for a street light a few meter away. Izaya turned his head, trying to make out the men's faces in the darkness behind him.

"Why, isn't that our new informant?" he heard one of them chuckle in feigned surprise.

His gut turned when the two other men reacted with dark laughter at their companion's words. He couldn't see their features in the dim light of the alley, but he could make out their tall forms. Broad-shouldered, they built up before him. Izaya's gaze slipped lower and he realized how the man's hands twitched excitedly, the one who had spoken first.

"Leave me," he managed to press out, his lips feeling somewhat numb.

It earned a stagy noise of disappointment from the men.

"We're just here to talk to you," the first one said, lifting his heads as to calm a shy doe.

With shaky fingers, Izaya fumbled out the knife inside of his hoodie's pocket and let it snap open. The men took a step back.

"I s-said," Izaya stammered, "Leave!"

He tried lifting his arm to hold the knife protectively in front of his body. But his limbs wouldn't listen to him. It took all the concentration he had to stay upright.

Now, the tone of the man turned sinister, and Izaya involuntarily flinched at the growl.

"You seemed more cooperative when you talked to the boss," the man hissed and took a step in Izaya's direction. "What's up with you? Are you playing some kind of double game here? Huh? Answer me, punk!"

His arm shot out to grab at Izaya's throat, but the Omega quickly stumbled backwards, lashing out with his knife. The man yelped, his hand only grabbing the scarf wrapped around his neck and ripping it off. Droplets of blood fell to the ground. The knife had left a deep cut in the man's arm. For a moment, silence fell over the scene. The man stared at his freshly acquired wound, his fingers still clutching the scarf. Then, he turned his dark gaze towards Izaya.

"You bitch," he pressed between gritted teeth. "I knew you were just a snitch. You're going to pay for this. Grab him!"

At his command, the other two men dashed at Izaya. He tried fending the hands off who grabbed at his hoodie, but as he lifted his knife it was knocked out of his hand. Panicked, he bit at the fingers as they tried to get a hold of his hair. It earned him a mocking laugh, and then his head was brutally bent back, baring his throat.

Suddenly, the hands tearing at his hair stilled.

"What the hell?" he heard the man closest to him mutter. "Are these marks?"

Izaya swallowed down the whimper that threatened to spill from his lips. He had completely forgotten about Shiki's marks. They got exposed when the first man ripped off the executive's scarf.

The other two men stepped closer to him. Izaya's arm shot out, trying to scratch at the nearest face, but his wrist was caught and turned at an unnatural angle. Izaya hissed when a sharp pain shot up his arm.

He focused on his breathing, trying to get his thundering heart beat under control as the men examined his neck. He couldn't see much from the angle his neck was held, and so he stared upwards, at the tall buildings around them. By now, the first stars had climbed their way onto the sky's firmament. It all pointed to a beautiful clear night. Izaya swallowed against the lump in his throat. He felt pinpricks of angry tears sting at his eyes' corners.

He flinched when rough fingertips dragged across the marks on his neck, but the hand in his hair kept him from escaping the prying touch.

"You little whore," he heard the first man mutter, his surprised tone tinged with quickly flaring rage. "This guy's just an Omega. Not only a snitch but a phony on top. Who sent you, huh? Your Alpha? What, was he too scared to come along himself? Instead he sent his bitch to us. How about we teach him and you a lesson, that he shouldn't mess with our gang?"

The fingers vanished from his neck, instead, a hand closed around his jaw, tightly squeezing his cheeks and forcing Izaya to look at the man's mug in front of him. He was met with furiously flashing eyes.

"I'll give you something to remember next time your man touches you, you fucking slut!"

Izaya panicked when he felt hands starting to tear at his clothes. With gritty determination, he yanked his head free from the hand on his face. He used the moment of surprise and took a deep breath.

"Help!" he screamed into the quiet of the night. "Somebody, help me! Please! Hel-"

He was cut off when a hand shoved over his mouth, muffling any word that was about to come out. Izaya threw his head around, trying to shake off the hand, but the fingers only ended up brutally digging into his skin. Suddenly, a leg was hooked into his and Izaya lost his balance. He stumbled backwards, the hands finally releasing him. All air was forced out of his lungs when he hit the ground. For a moment, all he could see were stars exploding in his vision. Then he felt the dull throbbing pain in his head.

Izaya groaned, hands scrambling over the wall to his right for balance. He didn't have long before he felt a weight on him. The young man yelped, shoving at the brought figure pressing his own smaller form down into the hard concrete. A hand shoved itself between his knees and forced his legs apart. Izaya squirmed, trying to crawl away and escape the hands that were tearing at his clothes, and the weight suddenly leaning down on his lower body. He kicked at his assaulter, but to no avail.

Then, there were more hands, grabbing his flailing arms and pinning them down.

Izaya screamed and now the angry tears were falling from his eyes, running over his temples as he bent his neck back to escape the sight of the men holding him down.

This can't be happening, it echoed in his head, blending out the noises around him. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.

The zipper of his hoodie was roughly dragged down and his shirt torn open, exposing his skin to the chilly night air. He whimpered when rough hands started to drag across his skin, scratching over the bruises on his side.

A sudden wave of anger shook him. These were Shiki's marks. Nobody was to see them except Shiki and himself!

Izaya thrashed in his assaulter's grip.

"No!" he howled. "Get your hands off me! Fucking… - let me go!"

As on command, the man between his legs was gone. Izaya heard a strangled cry and then his broad form was flying through the air. He yelped, reflexively turning away. The hands around his wrists eventually let go. There was the sound of a body slamming against concrete somewhere in the distance, and the next thing Izaya heard was the familiar sound of bones snapping before a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the nightly air.

"Stop making such a fuss!" a familiar voice boomed over the man's hysterical screaming. "Don't expect people to go easy on you when you try to fight them. That's only fair!"

The screaming stopped, only to be replaced by fearful begging. The other voice rose up again. The man was laughing.

"Letting you go? Fine, I will let you go. To hell!"

The begging turned into screaming, which quickly faded from Izaya's ears. Somewhere away from their alley, a container creaked under the unfamiliar weight of a human body crashing into it at highspeed.

Then, silence fell over the nightly spectacle.

Izaya wheezed, his whole body shaking from the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He curled in on himself, turning away from the steady steps approaching him. He shielded his body from any eventual blow, mind too fuzzy to fully grasp the situation. His skin still felt heated; by now he had broken out into a full sweat. He groaned when another hot wave shook his slim frame and clutched at the torn remains of his shirt, trying to cover his skin.

"I knew it was your smell, flea," the man above him said and he could hear the glee swinging in it. "I keep telling you 'Stay out of Ikebukuro, Izaya', but you never listen to me. And tonight, I caught you doing another one of your shady businesses. Say, what did you plan on doing with these guys? Looked like they were about to mess you up. Hey, are you even listening?"

Shizuo fell quiet, towering over the trembling form of his enemy. When he approached the scene, he wasn't able to make out what exactly was happening, but he had heard the young man's screaming and his mind had turned on autopilot. Now that the unknown assaulters were out of the way, he was able to muster Izaya's form more carefully. It was then that he saw the torn clothes of the man to his feet and realized how badly he was really shaking.

He lifted a hand to drag over his own neck. "Hey, Izaya, are you alright? You don't look too good."

"Go away," Izaya rasped, pressing his shaking limbs closer to his body.

Usually, Shizuo didn't mind to see his enemy in a disadvantageous state. But something about the earlier scene bugged him. The wheels in his head were turning. It was almost audible when the penny finally dropped.

"Were they… did they touch you?"

Izaya whimpered, his eyes pressed shut. Shizuo swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat.

He had enough respect for his high school fiend to not underestimate him. The idea of finding him in a state like this in a side alley just never occurred to him. Izaya was such a controlled person. How could he ever end up in a messed up situation like he just witnessed?

Shizuo felt a sudden sting in his chest. Enemy or not, this wasn't supposed to happen, to anybody.

"You look like you have a fever," he mumbled. As he crouched down, reaching out with one hand to brush over the other man's forehead, Izaya turned his head away rather violently.

"Don't-", he whimpered, voice trembling with barely suppressed fright.

The taller man leaned back on his heels, not sure as what to do. He looked around, as if finding a clue of the next step, when his eyes fell on the cell phone lying not far from them. Shizuo rose, carefully approaching the little thing as if it could snap at him any moment. He picked it up. The display was intact and presented him the unfinished text message. Shizuo frowned and studied the recipient's name. He knew who the man was, and the association he was working with, but he had never really conversed with him before. Guess there was a first time for everything.

Still somewhat inhibited by the unfamiliar situation, Shizuo looked up the man's name in Izaya's phone and dialed the number.

It didn't take long before he heard a responding click on the other end.

"Hello, this is Heiwajima Shizuo. I think I found something that belongs to you."

oOoOo

Akabayashi immediately sensed the abrupt tenseness in his companion's posture. He tilted his head, but dared not to ask while the other man was still on the phone.

"Understood," Shiki said tersely. "I'll be there in a bit. Please, stay around until then."

His hand still clutching the phone sank slowly into his lap. Shiki didn't look at him, but Akabayashi saw the darkness that overshadowed the other man's features.

"We need to make a detour," he announced, leaning forward to give the driver the address.

"Will you tell me what this is about? We're on our way to a meeting, Haruya."

Shiki shot him a quick side glance, but seemingly didn't dare to meet his eyes.

"No," he replied, voice suddenly very tense. "I just need you to trust me right now."

Trust was a big word, and something Akabayashi didn't have to the fullest for his business partner. It was a mutual meager faith the men had for each other, even though it never stood in the way of their business relationship. They respected each other. But they didn't trust each other.

Hearing the phrase come from Shiki's mouth surprised him, to say the least.

He ignored the unfurling suspicion, the experiences he had made with the man telling him Shiki wouldn't act like this if it wasn't important. After all, he could hold the man accountable at any time, should this detour prove to be a trap.

Trying to calm his mind with this thought, Akabayashi leaned back in his seat and watched the anxious mien of his companion.

oOoOo

It was a strange situation. He wasn't sure what to do with himself while he waited. Whenever he came close to the shuddering mess that was Orihara Izaya, the man turned further away from him. He just laid there, trembling, sometimes letting out a choked whimper. Shizuo didn't dare to step too close to him. The sight of his enemy was too weird, too far out of what he could have imagined.

He cracked his knuckles in a nervous gesture. Every now and then, he felt a question or a reassuring word dance on the tip of his tongue. But neither seemed appropriate.

It felt like hours to him, although, it had only been something over twenty minutes judging by the clock on Izaya's phone, when a dark car rounded the far ahead corner and slowly approached them. The stark headlights blinded him, and Shizuo lifted an arm to shield his eyes from the bright light. The headlights were immediately turned off.

Two doors in the back of the car opened and two tall figures stepped out. Shizuo recognized the form of Shiki Haruya, as the man quickly approached him.

"Good evening, Mr. Shiki," he greeted.

The man seemed scattered and so he gave Shizuo a mixed look. He could see revulsion in his features. The expression struck him as odd and Shizuo automatically stepped back when he kneeled down next to the shaking figure of Izaya. He started to talk to him in a low voice and his hands brushed aside some strands of dark hair. This time, Izaya didn't flinch from the touch.

Shizuo felt his brain twist in an attempt to make something out of this strange situation.

"You must be Mr. Heiwajima?"

He turned to face the owner of the voice. A man stood in front of him, slightly leaning on a cane in his right hand. He smiled. Against the street lights further from them, it was hard to make out his facial features, but Shizuo noticed the scar peeping out from under his shades.

"Uhm, yes, I am," he said slowly, reaching to accept the hand that was pointing at him. He shook the man's hand, a short, strong squeeze. "May I know who you are?"

"My name is Akabayashi Mizuki, and this is my business partner Shiki Haruya. But it seems you two already know each other, since you called his private number."

"Well," Shizuo started, struggling to seem unfazed by this bizarre situation. "I don't personally know him, not that much at least. I just called from his phone."

At this he turned to point at Izaya.

"I see." Akabayashi watched the scene displaying in front of him. He was convinced, Shizuo knew as much as him, and so he tried to look nonchalant about all of this. In the back of his head, he felt a hard to ignore throb. This incident would surely turn out to be an unwanted mess.

He looked around the alley, noticing two human forms lying a good fifty meter away from them.

"Do you know what happened, Mr. Heiwajima?"

"I'm not sure. When I arrived, there were three men on Izaya. He was fighting them, but didn't exactly seem to have the upper hand. So I stepped in."

"Mhm. And who were the men?"

"Gangbangers, for all I know," Shizuo muttered. Akabayashi regarded him with a long look, before speaking again.

"Did they do anything to Mr. Orihara?"

Wordlessly, they both glanced over to the two men at their feet. Shiki was holding Izaya, carefully helping him to sit up.

"I don't think so," Shizuo replied, his voice suddenly having taken a darker tone. "I don't like this flea bag, but doing something like that to someone… it just makes no sense. I hate it when things make no sense."

Right now, the young blonde man before him made no sense at all either, but Akabayashi left that unmentioned.

"Well, I must thank you for your brave interfering," he said instead and tried a polite smile.

"That was just… the right thing to do," Shizuo mumbled, eyes cast away to avoid the older man's piercing look.

"Mizuki."

The voice of Shiki ripped him out of his thoughts, and Akabayashi turned to look at the Alpha. He had taken off his jacket, the white fabric draped around the boneless form of the informant in his arms. The young man still had his eyes tightly shut, fingers clutching at the executive's shirt. Every now and then, he let out a small moan, as if his body was shaken by a fever.

It was a truly pitiful sight.

When he looked at the blonde man behind him, Akabayashi caught the uneasy expression on his face. Against his will, he felt a spike of compassion rise up. It irritated him.

"This must have been a very exciting night for you," he started. "You should head home now, Mr. Heiwajima. We will take care of the rest. Thank you for your help."

He shook the silent man's hand another time, before turning to leave.

"Oh, and another thing…"

Shizuo stared at the man with the cane in his hand, as he gave him a hard look over his shoulder. "What happened tonight should be treated with outmost discretion. I'm sure you understand, Shizuo?"

The intimate use of his first name stung at his pride, but Shizuo swallowed down the rising unease in his voice. After all, these men belonged to the Awakusu group, this he knew, and he had no intentions of interacting with their business. In any way.

"Of course, Mr. Akabayashi," he said tersely and caught the man's predatory smile. The aversion he felt quickly deflated to malaise.

The strange trio - Shiki, Akabayashi and the barely conscious form of Izaya - entered the car. The dark windows kept Shizuo from catching another glimpse of the men, as the car hit reverse and slowly pulled out of the alley.

Eventually, he was left by himself and the feeling of utter unease in his gut.

oOoOo

It was quiet in the car, except for Izaya's small puffs and the occasional groan escaping him. He was laid out in the back, head seated in Shiki's lap as the man carefully drew his fingers through the Omega's damp hair. His body was completely heated up, his breathing going shallow and too fast to be healthy.

Akabayashi watched the scene from the front seat of the car, having turned his body so he could look at his business partner.

"He's in heat," he stated bluntly, not feeling the need to embellish his speculation.

Shiki visibly tensed, but nodded. "Yes, he is."

"Alpha's don't go into heat," Akabayashi mused, as if he was citing a school's biology book in front of his inner eye. "Betas don't go into heat either. Which means, Mr. Orihara is an Omega."

It was a broad statement for someone who had been freshly introduced to the situation, but the two men knew he was right, just like Shiki knew that it was pointless to deny the informant's state. Deliberately, he avoided his peer's inquisitive stare. Instead, he let his gaze cling to the young man in his lap, tentatively reaching for the Omega's clammy hand and squeezing it in a comforting manner.

Izaya winced, mumbling inaudible words under his breath. The shy gesture didn't escape the other executive's attention.

"We should take him to a hospital, Haruya," Akabayashi proposed lowly, having somewhat realized the connection between the two men by now.

But Shiki firmly shook his head. "No, if we bring him to a hospital now, the information about his nature will be out and about. We're bringing him to my apartment. I will take care of him myself."

"Haruya…" Akabayashi started, but fell silent when he caught the other executive's look. "Alright, but I'm coming with you."

By the time they had finally reached Shiki's apartment, the Omega in his arms was shaking like a leaf. Akabayashi opened the door for them, and hurried to step aside. In quick strides Shiki headed towards his bedroom. Without turning the lights on, he laid the shivering man in his arms down on the soft mattress.

"Help me undress him," he let out into Akabayashi's direction, and the executive followed his command wordlessly. He knelt next to the Alpha, as Shiki tried to arrange Izaya into an upright position. The informant was like a ragdoll in his hands. Any tension had left his body, except for the fever induced tremors shaking his frame steadily. It was difficult to get the younger man out of his clothes, but they managed to skim him out of the dirty hoodie and what was left of his shirt. Akabayashi just pulled off his shoes, when Shiki turned to him again.

"I need a cloth to wipe his face. Cold water."

The Alpha nodded and rose to retrieve the desired object. When he returned, Shiki had positioned the informant in the middle of the bed, his own clothes laying carelessly scattered in front of the bed.

"What do you think is this a response to?" he asked, as he handed the man the cloth, watching, as he pulled the shaking body close to his own. The Alpha relied on skin contact and the transferred warmth between their bodies to steady the young man in his arms.

"I'm not sure," Shiki replied and carefully wiped the sweat from Izaya's face. The young man flinched when the cold fabric touched his skin. "Usually this only happens to Omegas who were abandoned by their Alphas. I guess his bodily reaction was triggered by something. Maybe the stress from the assault…"

As if on cue, Izaya's eyes snapped open. His pupils were dilated, almost wholly swallowing the brown iris. He gasped for air like a drowning man. Shiki quickly caught his flailing arms and pressed them against the Omega's chest. Tightly held like this, Izaya wasn't able to escape his grip as another violent shudder went through him.

"It's alright, Izaya," Shiki rumbled, trying to keep his voice even despite his own anxiety. "You are safe now. I'm here, calm down."

But the Omega in his arms didn't seem to hear him. Izaya keened, back arching unnaturally as he pressed against the arms holding him. Akabayashi watched the dramatic scene displaying in front of him for a moment. His peer was visibly struggling with calming the roused Omega down, his soft words falling on deaf ears. He caught the alien helplessness in the Alpha's eyes - then he made a decision. Carefully, he leaned his cane against Shiki's wardrobe and made to unbutton his shirt. When Shiki caught his movements out of the corner of his eye, he gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing, Mizuki?"

"At this rate, he will go into shock… more sooner than later" the man calmly stated. He shrugged off his jacket, then his shirt. With a hand braced against the wall to steady himself, Akabayashi kicked off his shoes. "You can barely hold onto him."

With slow steps, he limped over to his partner's bed. He tried his best not to listen to the voice of pride inside of his head, but think rationally. It was a fact that he didn't know anything about the relationship the informant and Shiki had going on at this moment, but he knew that if he didn't step in to help the other Alpha, the young man in his arms might end up a mental case. He knew what could happen to abandoned Omegas. In a time where traditions didn't have the priority they used to, some Alphas liked to forget about their own duties, to take care of their chosen mate. Just like a newborn that was forbidden any loving touch, the Omega's body would begin to atrophy in response to the lacking care. Not only did their bodies go into some kind of shock, but it often resulted in a severe trauma, preventing them from any future bond.

Akabayashi had seen some of those miserable cases, and he didn't plan on letting their group's informant become one of them.

He climbed into bed with the other two men. Shiki watched him silently. His jaw was tightly clenched as he tried to hold on to the wincing form in his arms. Akabayashi slid closer to them, close enough so he could wedge the Omega's body between the other Alpha's and his own. He took a hold of violently shaking shoulders, while his other arm slipped under Izaya's head, supporting its weight.

Just like Shiki, he pressed close to the smaller body, listening to the other man mumble words of encouragement. The young man's scent was mingled with that of Shiki and three other men he couldn't identify, but he figured them to be the assaulters'. His stomach churned at the thought of it.

Taking advantage of someone in a state like this was a disgusting crime, and it surely had left marks on the Omega's mental health. But that was something they had to worry about later.

The Omega looked shockingly small under his hand, his fingers almost being able to completely span over his sternum. Beneath the tips, he felt a rabid heart beat thunder inside of a fragile ribcage. Akabayashi pressed as closely in as possible without the risk of asphyxiating the younger man.

Minutes went by and slowly the tremors dwindled. Izaya was laid between them, mind slowly catching up to their presence. Through the faint string of his consciousness, he sensed the familiar warmth next to him. At last, his small form went slack in ease.

A loud sigh liberated itself from Akabayashi.

"That was quite the event, hm?" he mused and gently dragged his knuckles over Izaya's feverishly reddened cheek. The Omega sighed at the treatment.

On the other side of the young man's body, Shiki was silent.

"At least he seems alright now. You shouldn't leave his side for the night, though."

"I know," Shiki muttered against Izaya's shoulder. "I will stay with him."

Akabayashi made to stand up, somewhat ungainly sliding out of the Alpha's bed. He picked up his shirt and jacket, watching his business partner as he dressed quietly.

As he took his cane and turned to leave the room, ready to give the two men some well-deserved space, a thought crossed his mind. Shiki was gently caressing the young man's face in his arms, dragging a thumb over soft, slightly opened lips. The worried crease between his eyes hadn't vanished yet. Akabayashi mused over his next words for a moment.

"Haruya," he said eventually, voice lowered to a firm rumble. "This event will have consequences for you and the Omega. I hope you are aware of that."

He caught the Alpha's gaze, and almost regretted his harsh words. But then Shiki nodded quietly, a shadow of remorse momentarily darting over his face. Akabayashi waited for a response, but that's all he got from the other executive.

With somewhat mixed feelings, he left the man's apartment to step out into the still young night.